A real Cyclone success story

Friday

When Ebony Jones first came to Iowa State University, she felt like an alien.

When Ebony Jones first came to Iowa State University, she felt like an alien.

She came to ISU from a historically black university in the South and didn’t know what to expect at a predominately white campus in central Iowa. She found she looked different. She talked different.

During a visit to the financial aid office, Jones was referred to as a “minority student,” she said. After being part of the majority on the Alabama campus, the term rubbed her the wrong way.

“That’s what when I realized, maybe things are going to be a little bit different here,” Jones said.

Jones, 23, is among more than 3,100 students who will graduate from ISU during a ceremony today at Hilton Coliseum. With a degree in community development and regional planning, Jones has landed a job in St. Louis as a program director for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, she said.

During an interview earlier this week, she reflected on the hurdles she overcame to continue her education.

She transferred to ISU three years ago and found the coursework was more challenging. After leaving her previous university with a 3.8 GPA, she was devastated when she had to start all over at ISU, where her GPA dropped to 1.5 during her first year on the Ames campus.

It didn’t help she was unknowingly struggling with dyslexia, which made it hard for her to comprehend the materials she was reading, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

She already had overcome so much, and while she considered quitting, the beaming smile she wore on her face after she took her last final at ISU this week shows she’s glad she didn’t give up.

Jones, who will be the first in her family to graduate from college, didn’t think higher education was a possibility while growing up in St. Louis. She is the oldest of six siblings and said her family just didn’t have the money.

After getting into some trouble, Jones said, she was sent to an alternative school in junior high.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” she said.

It was there, Jones met a guidance counselor who encouraged her to continue her education and later, in high school, help find the scholarships and financial aid that would pay her way.

With a desire to work in the nonprofit world, Jones chose to study community and regional planning at Alabama A&M University. When the scholarship funding dried up two years later, a friend at her church encouraged her to apply at ISU and remarked on the quality of the program there.

Jones didn’t know anything about Iowa, and likened the experience of coming to the university to the early 1980s movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , in which an alien comes into contact with humans.

“To me, it was like two different worlds,” Jones said.

After struggling during that first year at ISU, Jones sought out the university’s TRiO programs, which helps disadvantaged students. When Jones continued to face difficulties in completing her coursework, her academic adviser recommended she get tested at ISU’s Student Disability Resource office.

Jones initially resisted the idea, she said, but she also found herself close to tears when she wasn’t able to absorb the materials she was reading for her classes, and mundane things, such as pop quizzes, left her in a panic.

“Nobody wants to hear ‘Maybe you should get tested, ‘” said Jones, who eventually sought medical help and was diagnosed with partial dyslexia and ADHD before her second year at ISU.

She didn’t want to be on medication, so she learned to manage her attention disorder, which made it nearly impossible for her to fall asleep, with an over-the-counter supplement and herbal tea.

Jones also got help from the university and was given extended time to complete exams, along with access to a reading software program. During her time at ISU, she’s worked two jobs on campus and also completed a certificate program in community leadership and public service through the university’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

Jones will graduate with a 3.4 GPA.

As she prepared for today’s ceremony, she already was visualizing her family there, cheering her on.

“I said you guys make sure you’re in the first row, because you’re not going to miss me,” she said.

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